The Last Of Us: Year One
by KassieMarie
Summary: Ever wondered what happened to Joel during the first year of the outbreak? Six months after the outbreak, Joel meets Antonia, a young Texan, who has been through far more than he has. As they travel through Texas, Joel slowly breaks down the emotional walls Antonia has built as they encounter infected, survivors and Fireflies. How will they end Year One?
1. Chapter 1

**The Last of Us:**

**Year One**

A Prequel Fan Fiction

By: Kassie Marie

* * *

**_AN: I reread this chapter and made some changes. Mostly grammatical. Enjoy :)_**

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Chapter 1: Leaving Home

_**February**_

Dallas, Texas. The ninth-largest city in America and third in the state of Texas. Now it's only 195 miles away from the third most infected city in Texas, Austin. It's hard to imagine Austin was a normal place just five months ago. When the outbreak happened, the government initialized Marshall Law. Military vehicles road in, personnel swarmed around and took over Dallas in a matter of days. It had become the official quarantine zone for all to Texas. No one is safe, just afraid. Men, women, even children were searched. If the government saw you were infected, you were killed on sight. Now the remaining survivors of the outbreak are moved from city to city migrating north where the infection had yet spread to.

When word spread about the disease, the government denied everything, creating cover-ups to hide the truth and to buy time to create an antidote. They were unsuccessful. Then the Fireflies formed. Since day one they've stood up against the government's oppression, fighting back, showing that not everyone has given up and continued the search for the elusive cure. Refugees running away from the quarantine zones join the Fireflies in the fight against the infected, the government and the search for a cure.

* * *

In a tiny rundown apartment complex are Tommy and Joel, both having grown rough, scraggly beards. In the first days of the outbreak they were moved from Austin to Dallas, along with the other survivors from surrounding cities. It's only been them since Sarah, Joel's daughter, was killed. Since then, neither Joel nor

Tommy has been able to trust the military. The sibling's relationship has gone through much strain since. Constant fighting and bickering on what to do, join the Fireflies or become little lap dogs of the government.

After threatening to leave for the Fireflies for months, Tommy had finally had enough after their latest fight and packed his duffle bag. Joel notices this and tries to make Tommy stay.

"Tommy! You can't join those damn Fireflies!" Joel yells. He couldn't lose Tommy, not like this. He can't lose his brother to them. Joel didn't know what, but there was something about the Fireflies that he just did not like, or trust.

"You are not in control of me Joel!" Tommy barked back. "Nothing has been the same since Sarah died. I know you've noticed this."  
Joel could only nod.

"Look…" Tommy grabs onto Joel's shoulder and locks his eyes on him. "You're my brother. I love you, but the nothing's the same anymore. People are killing each other out there, and if you want to survive, you join the group with the most guns; and right now the Fireflies are our best chance. We need to fight against the military. You may not want to help them, but I do."

Tommy releases Joel's shoulder; he picks up his bag and walks toward the door. Tommy closes the door behind him with a small thud, leaving Joel alone, standing in the middle of the vacant room. He turns and walks to the couch. On the coffee table is a photo of him, Tommy, and Sarah. Joel picks it up. As Joel holds back his tears, he stares at the picture. This was before his life was changed forever. In the picture was Tommy, him and his Sarah after one of her soccer games. Sarah was grinning from ear to ear. She had just scored the winning goal in that game and was named that game's MVP.

"I'm sorry Sarah," he whispers "I couldn't stop Tommy. I couldn't stop him..." he places picture back on top of the table and sits down. Joel's head falls into his hands.

There was a banging noise coming from the door. He heard someone shout, "Military Police! Open up!"  
Joel slowly gets up and opens the door. As soon he opened it, uniformed men stormed in, looking for signs of the virus and infected. The commanding officer walks in. He stands in the doorway and looks at Joel.

"This whole block is being relocated to the Boston quarantine zone," the commanding officer informed him. The officer looked like he has seen battle up close, his eyes hold signs of war, and his face with scars from fighting against rebels and infected. Joel could recognize this right away. "Collect all your essential belongings and fall in outside with the rest of the residents tomorrow morning at 0700. Only necessities such as food and clothing are allowed. No personal items at this time. All personnel items will be collected and brought up to your new quarters in Boston at a later date."  
The officer walks out as his men finished their search of Joel's home. The soldiers leave seconds after their commander.  
Joel stands alone once again. He scoffs as he closes the door.

"There's no fucking way I'm moving to Boston." He grabs his backpack and stuffs it with a few extra changes of clothes, a flashlight, some food and water and his pistol with extra ammo. He picks the picture off the coffee table. He takes one last look and decides to put it back. He needed to move on, and keeping that picture with him will only make him hurt even more. Joel sneaks out the back door and starts running. He runs and doesn't look back, even after a guard spots him. He doesn't stop. He refuses to stop until he is far from Dallas, far from the pain of losing Sarah, far from the feeling Tommy's disappointment in him and far from his past. There was no hope with this life. He was ready to start over. He needed it. This was his chance, he didn't care about the infected. If he became infected, he would accept it. He would let the virus kill him slowly. Nothing could hurt him anymore than the trauma of the past five months. The only thing he was focused on now was getting out of there. Maybe even surviving long enough to see Tommy one more time.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Thank you all for all the support with this! And for future reference, there will be very little f-bombs. It's just not how I like to write. If I feel it necessary, especually for Joel's character, I will put one or two in. _

_Anyway thank you all and I hope you enjoy this chapter. It is kinda long but I am introducing my OC here. Hope you all like it!_

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Chapter 2: Antonia

_**March**_

"Daddy! Help me! Daddy!" Bang!

Joel wakes in a cold sweat. He was dreaming of Sarah, dying again. He keeps having this dream since he ran from Dallas. He got up from the ground he was sleeping on.

Joel surveys his surroundings, looking for any sign of infected. He's been on the run for a month, hiding, killing infected and surviving. That's become the only thing he knows, surviving.

"Tommy was right", he thought. "The world has become a dog-eat-dog world."

Joel starts to walk. After a few miles, he looked up into the horizon and saw a town skyline.

"Finally!" He sighed. Maybe he could find someone who can tell him where he was.

As he approached the town entrance, he heard something. He hid in a nearby bush and waited. That's when he saw her. A young woman in her mid twenties with brown eyes and hair in a small ponytail that looked dark brown in the shade of the trees, but turned almost a dark blood red in the sun. She was walking with a bolt-action rifle on her shoulder, dragging behind her a deer that looked recently killed. Joe looked at the deer's head and saw the wound. One shot right between the eyes.

"She's a good shot," he thought. "Maybe she could tell me where I'm at. Hopefully before she tries to shoot me."

Joel waited until she was in town before breaking his cover. Slowly, he leaves the bush. That's when he heard the most cringe-worthy sound that made him freeze. He looked over his shoulder and saw a clicker and just behind it, a runner. Joel didn't hesitate and started to run. The runner screeched as it noticed Joel and ran after him with the clicker following right behind it.

Joel ran into the town and tried running into a building for cover, but the runner caught up to him. It grabbed Joel and dragged him down. Joel was pinned. He fought the runner off of him and reached for his pistol. But before he could even aim, the runner's head was shot off and the clicker behind it suffered the same fate just two seconds later. Joel stayed on the ground, afraid to get up or even look over his shoulder at his rescuer.

"Get up!" he head a female voice yell at him. He kept his pistol in hand and slowly got up to face the killer of the infected. He looked and recognised her from only a few moments before. It was the woman who killed the deer. And she was glaring at him down the barrel of a rifle aimed right between his eyes. It was a different one than she was carrying just moments earlier. Joel recognised this rifle instantly. It was a semi-automatic and only the military guards used this back in Dallas. It prevents the infected from coming in, and survivors from going out.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my town?" the woman demanded.

Joel slowly put his pistol away as he answers her.

"My name is Joel. I'm on the run from the Dallas military police."

"Dallas?" The woman looked confused. "That's a long ways from here. Normally it's a seven hour drive with good traffic on I-10."

"It's been a month since I was last there."

"You've been on the run for a month? And the police haven't caught you yet? Impressive. Or you're just not that important to waste man power on. Why did you run?"

"They were moving my block to Boston and my brother, Tommy, had just left me to join the Fireflies. I didn't want to up and leave and never get a chance to see my brother again. He's the only family I've got. So I ran. I've been trying to find him, but I've had no luck."

Joel looks at the woman and she's still glaring at him. Her glare has softened a little, but he still feels uncomfortable. The rifle is still aimed at his head.

"So, why were those two infected running after ya? I haven't seen any around here in three months." She positioned the rifle higher on her shoulder, like she was ready to shoot Joel's head clean off at any second. "Did you lead them here? Are you infected?!"

Joel puts his hands up. He knows she'll kill him without hesitation.

"Whoa. Easy there. I don't know why or how two infected found me, but I can assure you I'm not. I've been killing hundreds of those damn things for a month straight now."

"That's nothing," she scoffed. "I had to kill thousands in a couple of days."

Joel looked around him. The town did look deserted. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach when he noticed the lack of human life around.

"Thousands? You mean..."

"Yes. I'm not proud of it. I killed every single person who lived in this town with me. Everyone became infected. I had to kill everyone. Including my family."

"What town, exactly? Where am I standing?"

"You're standing in Boerne."

Joel had made it this far from Dallas? They were so close to San Antonio. Sarah had always love visiting The Alamo and the Riverwalk.

"Do you think some infected made their way up from San Antonio?"

"No. There's no chance of that. I've killed off those infected too. They tried to take over about three months ago. That's the last time I saw infected."

Joel put his hands down slowly. He needed to get her to lower that rifle.

"So, do you think I could restock on some supplies? Ammo, food, water. I'll be gone in five minutes. I promise."

She put the rifle down slowly.

"Why? Why should I let you take supplies? You lead INFECTED into my town."

"I'm sorry. Look, if you don't want me to stick around, then I'll be on my way."

She nodded and started to turn around.

"By the way," Joel noticed something. He felt very rude by not asking her something. "What's your name? I've told you mine, but I didn't ask for yours."

She looked over her shoulder and answered him.

"Antonia. Antonia Rodriguez."

Joel looked at her for a moment. He felt almost star struck. He recognised that name.

"You're a part of the Rodriguez family? The rich entrepreneurs who started the best Tex-Mex restaurant chain that spread across Texas like wildfire and was some of the best food I've ever had? When I lived in Austin before the outbreak I took my daughter to the one up there after all her soccer games. She loved it."

"Yeah, that's my family. And all that's gone now."

Antonia paused for a second. Joel wasn't going anywhere. "What happened?" He asked.

She took a shaky breath before telling him.

"In the days following the initial outbreak, I told them we had to get out of town. But my mom was six months pregnant, so we couldn't travel as fast as we needed to go. So we barricaded ourselves inside our house. Somehow the infection spread quicker than we originally thought it would and infected half the city within a few days. A few managed to break into our home. I was in the attic preparing some weapons my dad had stashed up there when I heard them. They attacked my family before I could kill them all and infected them. I locked myself in the attic and waited. A few days went by and they were fully turned into those things. They weren't my family anymore. I had to get out, but they were waiting for me. I grabbed as many guns and ammo as I could carry to get out of the house and left the attic. Immediately they went after me, so I did what I had to do. I killed them all. I was able to put them out of their pain and misery, but I was crying the entire time. I know I was helping them out in the end, but…"

She looked down at her feet. Her voice was shaking. Joel reached his arm out to comfort her, but she swat it away, giving him a death stare.

"Don't you DARE touch me!" She yelled at him. Obviously she didn't need comforting. Antonia looked up at Joel. She wasn't crying. Her eyes weren't even watery. Joel found this strange. Every time he thought of Sarah, he cried.

"You're not crying. You're talking about your dead family, but you're not crying."

"I've lived with their blood on my hands for six months now. I've learned to block out all emotion as I've encountered those damn infected. I haven't cried since I killed my family. I've been on my own with no other human interaction, until now."

Antonia paused and looked at Joel. She rolls her eyes and sighs.

"There's a shop around the corner there. Take what you need and leave."

She turns around and starts to walk away.

"Why don't you come with me?"

Joel almost covers his mouth. Why did he just blurt that out? Antonia turned back around and stares at him in bewilderment.

" Excuse me?"

Joel stared at her for a moment. He had to think of something fast to cover his slip up.

"Why stay here, alone, in a run down city just waiting to die?"

"Because I know the Fireflies will be coming by here soon. They need an expert on this 'infection' and I am."

Joel looked confused. Antonia sighed.

"I was working on my masters in Biochemical Engineering when the outbreak occurred. My professor was able to get a sample of the Cordyceps fungus a month before the outbreak, when there was early reportings of the new virus. We were asked to find a cure before it got too bad. We were able to study the original fungus and were starting to understand how it mutated to infect humans, but we were too late. We couldn't find a cure in time. My professor sent my class home to be with our families. He knew it was going to be bad. Luckily, I've managed to keep all the research from that month. Now the Fireflies are looking for a cure, and I've got what they need."

"So, you want to be a Firefly, huh?"

"Just long enough to find a cure. Then I'm out of there. I don't agree with everything they do, just their will to find a cure. So, to answer your request. No, I don't want to go with you. So get what you need and leave before I change my mind and shoot you."

Antonia slings her rifle onto her shoulder and turns around to leave again, but something on the horizon catches her attention.

"Shit," she said under her breath. Antonia turned to Joel. "Run!"

Antonia started to run and Joel followed her into a nearby building. Once Joel was inside, Antonia blocked the door.

"How the hell did those damned things get here?!"

Joel was confused. He didn't see anything.

"What? What did you see?"

"I saw a group of infected. They were just entering town." Antonia started to look through piles of garbage and started flipping things over. "Where the hell is it?! I just saw it.. HA!"

When she pulled it out, Joel froze.

"What in the hell is a BAZOOKA doing in here?!"

"I've been storing weapons in here for months. I found this beauty and a few extra missiles just in case I ever needed it. And right now, we need it!"

Antonia opened a window and aimed the bazooka right at the entrance of town. Joel crouched right next to her. They watched through the window, waiting for the first infected to walk into sight. As soon as Antonia saw a few together in range, she pulled the trigger.

"Yippee ki yay you mother..." Boom!

"Joel, grab another one for me. Quick!"

He grabbed the rocket next to him and reloaded the bazooka. Antonia shot it at another group of infected. They did this for what seemed like forever, killing hordes of infected they approached. Finally, Antonia didn't see any more and stood up. She put the bazooka down and looked at Joel.

"Well, looks like you got what you want. There's now way I can stay here now. Let's go." Antonia started grabbing as many weapons that she could fit onto her belt along with ammo. She stopped and looked at Joel. "Come on! Start grabbing supplies. You won't find a stash like this for a long time. Trust me."

Joel nods and starts packing up ammo. He knew she was right. This town was not safe anymore and they had to get out. He knew a place they could go. Somewhere the infected weren't. He passed it on his way out of Dallas. Just far enough in the hills where infected can't reach. He looked at Antonia. She was grabbing food, water and medical supplies. Joel felt sorry for practically leading infected here. He felt responsible for her having to leave her home. He felt like he needed to make it up to her.

"So," he started. "Where you you suggest we go? I passed something on my way here a few weeks ago that..." He was interrupted mid sentence by Antonia's hand that shot up.

"We head northeast. Towards Canyon Lake. My family owned a lake house up there that we visited every summer. It's right on the lake, but under a hill. It's isolated and hard to get to unless you know how. No infected can get there. Well, not easily anyway."

"That's gonna take some time to get to."

"On foot, maybe." Antonia snickered. "Luckily for us, I've kept two bikes parked around the corner. They're all gassed up with a few reserve cans. Take us only a few hours. Trust me, I know shortcuts to get us there quickly. The terrain will give us some trouble, but we'll get there quickly."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Lake House

Antonia and Joel push their empty bikes to the top of a hill. They've been traveling for hours, avoiding any infected and military along the way. But, they've finally made it to the Rodriguez Family Lake House.

"There it is. Looks the same as the last time I saw it last year."

Antonia starts to make her way down the hill. Joel stays where he's at for a moment in awe of the lake. It was at its peak level, sparkling with the setting sun reflecting on the surface. Joel could not believe that something this beautiful still exists. He was in awe of nature when Antonia's voice brings him back.

"Hey! Come on! I'm not gonna wait forever for ya. We'll have plenty of time to gawk over nature later."

She continues down the hill and parks her bike next to the house. Joel joins her and parks his bike right next to hers. He looks up and sees Antonia at the door to the house. She is staring at it with a glazed look. Antonia was remembering the last time she was there.

* * *

It was early June and Antonia had just reached the lake house. She pulled up in her 2012 black diamond colored Hyundai Elantra. She stayed in her car for a moment. She was alone with her thoughts. She hasn't seen her family since Christmas because her masters work kept her busy during the school year. Now she has two months free, and what better way to spend her free months than with her family on the lake. She went inside and her sister noticed her as soon as the door closed.

"TONI!" her sister squealed. She ran over to Antonia and gave her a big hug, almost knocking Antonia over. Antonia was the oldest and her sister was the middle child. Her parents had four kids; Antonia was 23, Roberto was 20, Alexandra was 17 and Ricardo was 10.

"Hey, Alex. How was school?"

Alexandra looked at Antonia and rolled her eyes.

"Junior year? Boring as ever! But senior year is gonna be AWESOME!"

Antonia chuckled. Alex sounded just like Antonia when she was in high school. Antonia hated school, and now shes entering into her seventh year of college. She enjoys it now and her masters program is giving her a lot of opportunities that she never thought about.

"Well, I hope so. You don't want to leave high school on a sour note and not want to go to college." Antonia paused for a second. "You are going to college right?"

"Of course! Juilliard is looking into recruiting me into their acting program. I'll be one step closer to Broadway!"

Alex always dreamed big. Antonia smiled.

"Ok good. Where's the rest of the gang?"

"Rob is out on the lake fishing already, Ricky is upstairs sleeping, mom is finishing settling in upstairs and dad getting the grill ready for dinner."

"Ok. I'll go get settled in and meet you in ten minutes. Got get your swimsuit on."

"Already got it on! I'll go and help dad until you're ready."

Alex ran outside. Antonia grabbed her bags that she dropped when Alex grabbed her and went upstairs to her room. She plopped down her stuff on the bed and grabbed her swimsuit and cover dress. As soon as she took off her shoes, there was a knock on her door. Antonia went to the door and opened it to her mother's smiling face.

"Mom!" Antonia grabbed her mom in a big hug. Her and her mom have always had a special bond together.

"Careful Toni," her mom said. Antonia let go and realised what her mom ment. She looked down and gasped.

"Mom," Antonia looked back up. "You're pregnant again?!"

"Yep," her mom chuckled. "You're gonna have another sister."

"How long have you been expecting?"

"I'm four months along. And no, the doctor hasn't told us what we are having yet but I've figured out the pattern. I had you, then your brother, then your sister and then your little brother. So if the pattern holds, I'll have a little girl."

"Mom! Why didn't you text me when you found out?"

"You were busy and I thought to wait until now. Since I'm in my 40's this is a huge risk pregnancy. The doctor's keeping a close eye on this one. Ricky was a high risk because we waited so long before having him after Alex. So waiting 10 years before this one is a bigger risk. Not just for the baby but for me as well."

"I understand mom. Especially since grandma was diagnosed with cancer at this age. How she battled it for 16 years, I will never know."

"Your grandmother was a very strong woman and went into remission twice before she died from it. She would be proud of you, you know that Toni."

"Yeah, I know. She's the reason why I wanted to study Biochemistry. To find new ways of treating cancer. Perhaps even curing it one day."

Her mom hugged Antonia. She looked at her mother and smiled. Her mom smiled back.

"Get changed. Your sister is anxious to get out on the lake. I'll go wake Ricky and get him ready."

Her mom went down the hall and Antonia closed the door. She was excited for this summer. It would be the best summer ever.

* * *

Joel touched Antonia's shoulder and she was startled a bit.

"It's just me. Don't worry."

"Oh. Sorry. I was lost in my memories for a moment. My last summer with my family was truly the best summer of my life. I just wish they were here with me now. I bet little Alejandra would love crawling around in the sand."

Antonia trails off. Joel sees her eyes start to glaze over again, then her head snaps back up and she's fully back to the present day.

"Ok. Let's go inside."

She pulls a key out of her pocket and opens the door to the lake house. She goes inside and Joel follows behind her. Antonia goes to the kitchen to see if her family left any food and water in the pantry. Joel looks around and is in awe of how simple the house looks, even though the Rodriguez family was known as one of the richest families in Texas. The living room had simple furniture, low tech kitchen and beautiful wooden flooring. Antonia sees him looking around and chuckles.

* * *

"Toni! Over here!"

Antonia emerged from the back door as Alex was calling to her near the pier.

"Alright Alex! Give me a minute."

Antonia ran over to the pier and joined her sister and her brother Roberto.

"Hey Rob. Catch anything?"

He looked up and stared at Antonia for a moment. Then reality hit him and he realised it was his big sis.

"Toni!"

He jumped up and gave her a hug.

"How's school going?" He asked.

"Good. Starting year three of masters program in August. How's yours going?"

"Good. Business school is really interesting. It will definitely prepare me to take over the restaurant chain, unlike some first born who wanted to become a scientist."

"Really?! Really. You're gonna use the 'Firstborn' thing against me? Be thankful that you're getting it! Besides, dad always said you would get it. I never wanted it."

Rob chuckled. Antonia started to laugh and Alex joined along. Soon all three were laughing. Antonia and Rob always had that argument and it ended the same every time, with them laughing. Rickey and their mom came behind them and smiled.

"Toni!"

Antonia turned around. Little Ricky was standing there with a huge grin on his face. She loved her little Ricky so much. Antonia smiled back and he ran to her to give her a big hug. She returned the hug and picked him up and spun him around like she always did.

"Hey Rickey. How have you been?"

"Great! Toni," Rickey leaned into her ear and whispered, "Did you know mommy's gonna have a baby?" He moved his face away from her ear and looked at her. Antonia chuckled.

"Yes, Rickey. I know mommy's gonna have a baby. Are you excited to be a big brother?"

"Yes! Mommy said that I'm gonna have a little sister to look after. I can't wait!"

"Well good. You'll make a great big brother."

Antonia put him down and he took her hand. She looked at her family and smiled.

"So, who's ready to swim?"

* * *

Antonia had the back door open. She leaned on the frame and looked out to the lake. She heard Joel's footsteps coming down the stairs. She looked over her shoulder then back at the lake.

"There's enough canned food here to last us a few days then a few more on the road before we reach the next town. As for water, we can purify the lake water and use that for when we leave."

"This lake house is amazing. It's so simple and yet there's something that makes it feel like a mansion. You lived here every summer?"

Antonia turned her head to Joel.

"Yep. Every summer since I was 4. When my dad made his first million dollars from the restaurant, he bought this and surprised my mom and I." She looked at the lake. "My dad taught me to swim that year. My mom was sitting on the pier, pregnant with my brother Roberto, and dad and I were in the lake. I had my floaties on and he told me that I needed to learn to swim. So he took them off and supported me as I swam. When he wanted me to float on my back, he held his hand there and then took it away really fast. It scared me and I felt like I would drown. But I looked and I was swimming. All on my own. He used that trick to teach all of us how to swim."

Antonia straightened herself and walked inside, leaving the back door open. Joel went to close it, but Antonia stopped him.

"Don't close it. I like the breeze that comes through with the sunset. You can close it when the sun's gone."

Antonia walked to the stairs and stopped.

"Oh. And don't touch anything!"

"Got it!"

"I'm serious Joel!"

* * *

After spending a month with her family, Antonia lost track of time. Before she knew it, it was July 16. She woke up that morning to a very quiet house. As she came down the stairs, her whole family was huddled in the kitchen.

"Morning guys." Antonia said with a yawn.

As soon as she said that her whole family faced her and exclaimed "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONI!"

Antonia had forgotten it was her birthday. She laughed.

Alexandra hugged her and smiled. "The big 24 huh?"

"Yeah…." Antonia trailed off. "Oh my gosh I'm old!"

"Toni," her mother scolded. "Don't go off saying that. You're not old."

"You're not old either mom."

Her mom smiled, "Good one Toni. Now come over here and have the first chocolate chip pancake before Rickey grabs one."

Antonia did as she was told, almost fighting Ricardo for the pancakes.

After breakfast, the family spent the whole morning on the lake. Antonia wasn't thinking that in a little over a month she would have to leave and go back to college. She was only thinking about now. Being with her family on the lake and enjoying life.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: A Bonding Moment?

"Hey Antonia."

"What Joel?" She rolled her eyes and looked at him. They had just finished eating and were sitting on the couch.

"What is that?"

She looks where Joel was pointing and chuckled. "That is a piano."

"I know it's a piano." Joel scoffed. "But what's it doing here?"

"My parents bought it for my 24th birthday last summer. Just to have one here. I had one at the house, but they wanted me to have one here, too."

Antonia walked over to the piano and sat down on the bench. She ran her fingers over the keys, remembering the first time and the last time she played it.

* * *

"Happy birthday Toni." Her dad removed the cover to reveal the grandest piano Antonia had ever seen. It looked exactly like the one at home.

"Daddy!" She hugged him and smiled. "Thank you!"

"Play something Toni!" Ricardo piped up. "Please! You haven't played for us since Christmas. Plllleeeaaassseee?"

"Haha. Ok Rickey."

Antonia sits on the bench and feels the keys. She hopes the piano is in tune as she starts to play. She plays a song her whole family liked from fellow Texan Demi Lovato, Nightingale.

As she starts, she closes her eyes and begins to sing.

The song plays and she looks at her family, singing the lyrics to them. To her, her family was her nightingales. They always brought her up when she was down. She could never be mad or angry when she was with them.

Alexandra joins Antonia and sings with her on the last chorus. They harmonize together like they did at Christmas and every other time Antonia played.

When she played the last note, she smiled. Ricardo jumped and cheered. "Again Toni! Another one!"

Antonia laughed and hugged him. "Ok, one more." She smiled as Ricardo sat between her and Alexandra. Antonia would always play. Any time Ricardo wanted her to, she would. She would do anything for her family.

* * *

She hasn't touched a piano since August. That was seven months ago. She closes her eyes and starts to play. On instinct she played Nightingale. Not meaning to, but it was the first song that she still remembered. She starts singing the lyrics, imagining her family was right there with her. She imagined Alexandra sitting with her, harmonizing, and Ricardo gleaming at his sisters. Antonia gets lost in the song and before long starts to get choked up. She manages to finish, but when she opened her eyes it was only Joel standing there. Her nightingales were no longer with her.

"Wow, that was beautiful."

"It was one of my family's favorite song. I always sang it for them. My little brother Rickey loved it. He was my little nightingale. They all were my nightingales."

Antonia looked down at her hands that have fallen into her lap as Joel stands there, speechless. He looks over to his right when he sees something. Something he hasn't seen in months. Joel walks over to it and picks it up.

"This yours?"

Antonia looked up. "No, that's Rob's. He played the guitar. My parents had us all play instruments. Me piano, Rob guitar, Alex was learning the piano, guitar and cello. Rickey played the toy drums. He would've made a fantastic drummer one day." Her head fell back down as she thought of Ricardo.

Joel looks at the guitar and decided to sling the strap over his head. He started to tune it by ear. He might as well play since Antonia did. Make her feel better. She said she played for her family, so he just wanted to show her what he did for Sarah when she was younger and she couldn't sleep. He loved playing for Sarah, just like Antonia loved playing for her family. He understood the pain she probably felt right now. The pain of knowing your loved ones can never hear you play. Never getting a chance to sing with them again.

Joel started to play something from one of his favorite artists, Johnny Cash. At first he hesitated, but once he started, he just let his fingers do the talking. He started to play one that he remembered the best. One of Cash's last songs, Hurt. Joel started to sing. Antonia's head was down, but she listened to him. As Joel sang, she lifted her head. She recognized the song. When Joel reached the chorus, she sang along. Their voices matched perfectly. Her soprano voice and his bass voice wove together perfectly. As they sang, Antonia started to play the piano, creating her own keys to match his strumming.

After they finished the song, Joel and Antonia looked at each other. Joel walked over to the piano bench and sat down. Antonia looked at the piano keys as Joel sat down. They both felt like a wall between them came down. Not a big wall, but the first one.

They sat like this for a few minutes in silence. Finally Antonia broke the silence.

"So, I guess we can close the back doors now."

She stands up and goes to close them. Joel remains on the piano bench, watching her close the doors. The sun was almost completely gone. The only thing left was those last few rays of light that peaked around the mountains. He sees the colors in the sky, reds and oranges and pinks. They all were so beautiful, and as Antonia closed the doors, the colors leaked through them, creating a halo around Antonia's silhouette. The oranges made her red hair pop, the oranges glowed around her arms and the pinks made every curve stand out.

Joel catches himself and shakes his head. "What the…" He thought. "Get out of there!"

Antonia turns around. "Well, night."

She headed towards the stairs when Joel stopped her.

"Hey, ummm… Where do I sleep?"

"You can sleep in Rob's room. Every room has a sign on it, so you'll find it easily. Night."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Lonely Advice

Antonia sat on the window ledge in her room. It was late at night, but she couldn't sleep. She couldn't get Joel singing out of her mind. He looked so peaceful, lost in the song. She could only imagine how awkward she looked while she played.

As she looked outside, she could see the stars so clearly. She remembered every year her family would spend one night stargazing. She found Cassiopeia immediately. It was both her mother's and her favorite constellation.

"Mom," She whispered. "You there? I know, it's strange to do this, but I really need you. I wish you were still here. You helped me out so much before, but not like what I need help with now. That was Alex's area of questioning." Antonia paused.

"Remember that time I told you I was more concerned with my work more than finding someone? I do." She chuckled. "You were so mad at me. You said 'Work is never more important than love! Don't you ever say that again!' and I did three more times. You practically wanted to kill me. I never asked for any advice on boys, which always made you worry. You just wanted to know your girl would be taken care of. I wish I asked you some things, but I never did. Now I kinda regret it, 'cuz this Joel guy. I…. I just….. I don't know what to think."

Antonia looked down. Why was she talking to stars? She didn't know. All she knew was that she had to get these feelings off her chest.

"Hey, mom?" She looked back up. "Could you send me a sign? What should I do? We're heading to New Mexico tomorrow, but I don't know if I should stay with him if we run into the Fireflies or just go with them as planned. I want to help stop this infection, and yet I want to start over. Maybe Joel is the one person that I can start over with. We've both been through a lot. We understand the loss the other has experienced."

Antonia laughed. "Mom! How is it you are always one step ahead of me? Thank you. Goodnight mom. Tell the clan I said hello."

She got off the ledge and went over to her bed. She was going to enjoy the only night she had in this bed. In the morning, both Joel and her would be on their way to Albuquerque.

* * *

Joel sat on the ledge of his window. He looked at the picture of Sarah he had in his bag. He found it while rummaging through what he had in there. He had forgotten he put it in there a few months ago. It was of him and Sarah sitting at a restaurant and celebrating her 10th birthday. Coincidently it was the Mexican restaurant Antonia's family owned.

Joel sighed. "Life's funny, isn't it baby girl. Two years ago we were sitting at her family's restaurant, and now I'm at her summer home. I think you would like her. Nothing at all like your mother."

Joel put the picture in his lap as he looked out the window. "I promise you baby girl, I will find Tommy. I'll make sure he's safe. It's my job after all. I have to keep this family together. It's like what you always said, 'We're better together'."

Joel puts the picture back in his bag. "Sweet dreams baby girl."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Family Traditions

Antonia walked down the stairs, all dressed and ready to leave, when she saw Joel outside on the pier. She put her bag down next the the front door and walked outside to join him.

"Hey."

Joel looked up. "Hey."

Antonia took her boots off and sat down next to Joel. She let her feet dangle as they skimmed the surface of the lake water. She looked at Joel and saw he was holding a coffee cup.

"I see you found our coffee stash."

"Oh," He gulped. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I haven't had coffee in months, so…."

"No, no. It's fine."

Joel hands her a cup. "Might as well enjoy it right?"

She takes the cup and smiles. "Right."

They sit in silence as they enjoyed their coffee. It would be the last taste of coffee they would have for a long time.

After she finished her cup, Antonia stood. "Hey, wanna know what mi familia would do on our last day here?"

"Sure." Joel gulped down the last of his coffee and stood. He followed Antonia to a tree next to the house.

"Ok, so on our last day here, we would have coffee and hot chocolate with breakfast. We would eat on the pier, kinda like how we just were, and after we were done, we would walk over to this tree. As a way of saying goodbye to summer, we would throw the cup we used at the tree."

"Why?"

"It's just a weird tradition my parents started. To be honest, I don't even know why we do it. We just do."

Antonia turned towards the tree and took a softball pitcher's stance. She drew in the cup like a softball and threw it at the tree with as much force and speed as she could put into the throw. As soon as the cup hit the tree, it shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.

"Nice throw."

"Thanks. Four years of softball would do that."

"You played softball?"

"Yeah. I could have gotten a full ride to any college if I played on their team. But I got bored of it and decided to pay myself for college. I mean it's not like I didn't have the money for it."

"Where did you go?"

"Rice for undergraduate and University of Dallas for my masters."

"Damn."

"I was top 10 in high school, number 5 to be exact, and I was top 10% at Rice all four years. At Dallas, I was top 5% I think."

"No wonder you said no to softball."

Antonia shrugged. "Now your turn."

Joel took Antonia's place and threw his cup at the tree, but his only broke into big chunks.

Antonia smiled. "Yeah, no one else in my family could break theirs into as many pieces as me. It was a gift."

* * *

"So, you ready?"

Antonia takes one last look at the house. "Yeah. It's time to move on. Besides, we gotta get to New Mexico."

"Why New Mexico?"

"Last I heard, Albuquerque is where the Fireflies have their closest base."

"And where did you hear that?" Joel asked with a hint of doubt.

"I have resources." Antonia shrugged. "Now, do you wanna find your brother or not?"

Joel followed Antonia. Their bikes were all out of gas and there was none left from the grill. They would have to make the 600 mile trip on foot.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: El Paso

**_September_**

"Hey Joel! Over here!"

Joel walked over to Antonia. She was standing over yet another deer.

"Damn, Tonia. That's number three today. Stop before we run out of deer to kill."

"Oh please. Three deer will feed us for weeks! That's if you stop eating half the damn deer at one time!"

Antonia and Joel stare at each other. Suddenly Antonia breaks and starts to laugh.

"Ha! That's 9 stare-off wins for me and, what, 3 for you?"

"Shut the hell up Joel!" Antonia punches his arm.

They walk off to their makeshift camp. It's been six months since they left Antonia's lake house. Six months of extremely hot days and even colder night. Texas was always called the Bipolar state since its weather changed practically every five minutes.

Joel drags in Antonia's latest kill as she guts her first kill from that day. Joel goes to do the same to the others. They've done this same routine for months now. Antonia kills, Joel transports and they both gut.

Antonia looks up as she wipes some sweat off her brow. "Hey, Joel."

"What?" He responds without looking up.

"Where exactly are we ya think?"

"No clue. I haven't seen a city sign for about a month."

"Yeah. The last one was for Fort Stockton."

Antonia looked around. They were surrounded by forest. It was hard to tell where they were just by using landmarks anymore. Joel looked up from the deer. "It's been, what, six months? My guess is we're pretty damn close to New Mexico. We better be or I swear…."

"Joel, let's figure it out tomorrow. I saw a highway not to far from here while we were hunting. Let's just jump on it tomorrow and follow it until we see a sign."

* * *

"Damnit….." Antonia thought. "Six months already. What if they're not there anymore….. What would I do then? Keep traveling with Joel?" She looked across the now smoky firepit and saw Joel, sleeping. She couldn't see much since they put the fire out, but the moon illuminated the night just enough for Antonia to see Joel was lying on his side facing towards her. "He looks so peaceful sleeping… Damnit!" She scrunched her face and turned onto her back. Antonia put her arm behind her head. "I can't afford to think anything like this. I can't get close to him….. He needs to find his brother and I need to find the Fireflies. Come on Antonia, no distractions remember. You promised yourself no distractions until you found that damn cure." She turns her head and looks back at Joel. "Maybe after you find the cure….. Maybe you can live a somewhat normal life. Maybe with Joel. Maybe not. A lot can happen in a few months, so imagine what a few years can do." She turns her head back towards the starry night sky. "Just a little longer….." She closes her eyes. "Just a little more longer until you are where you need to be. Forget Joel. He may just slow you down in the long run"

* * *

"There's the highway." Joel pointed straight. "Not as far I thought it would be."

"Told ya."

They started walking towards the highway. After a few minutes in silence, Joel spoke up. "So….. how close do you think we are?"

"To a sign? No clue. To Albuquerque? I'll know as soon as I know where we are and how much longer it'll take us to get there."

"Do you have a damn GPS tracker in your head or somethin'?"

Antonia laughed. "No. I've always been good with directions and knowing how far one place is from another. We barely used a map on our family trips. If I looked at a map long enough I'd have everything memorized."

"Damn, Tonia. What did you NOT do?"

"Make tortillas. I was terrible at it! Alex got it quickly, but I sucked at it. I'm good at cooking meat, pasta and baking cookies. Anything else I would burn. You wouldn't like overdone tortillas for tacos or quesadillas."

"So you never cooked for the restaurants?"

"No, I did. I did some occasional meat prep and I baked the cookies. I created the recipe for all the restaurants to follow for the Rodriguez Family Choco-Nut-Chunk Cookie."

"Those were my favorite dessert to get! Sarah loved them too. I tried making them once off a recipe I found online, but I guess I did something wrong because it tasted like shit."

"My recipe was never available to the public. So any you found online were total fakes."

"Damnit! So I searched for the recipe AND baked the damn cookies for NOTHING?!"

"Uhh… Yeah."

Antonia laughed to herself.

"What's so fuckn' funny?"

"Cus you're not the first one to tell me you attempted to make my cookies and fail epicly."

Joel stared at Antonia. She just gave him a sly smile and laughed again.

Joel looked away from her, but couldn't help laugh a little to himself.

After walking for an hour they finally came across the city sign they were waiting for."

"Wow." Antonia said. "Hmm. 'Welcome to El Paso, Texas.' You know, I had a classmate from Rice who was from here. She told me she hated it."

"Why?"

"No clue. But after graduation she moved to Houston and last I heard before the outbreak was pregnant with her first child with her wonderful hubby that she met at Rice."

"Haven't heard from her since?"

Antonia sighed. "No."

Joel put his arm around her shoulder. "I bet she got out of Houston in time."

"I think so too. She's smart and she does listen to me when it comes to medical stuff. She told me the last time we talked that she was going to move it a city up north, away from the outbreak so she could deliver her baby safely."

* * *

"Jackpot!" Joel exclaimed as he saw boxes full of ammo. "And this is why I never trusted those damn MP's. Hoard everything for themselves those greedy bastards."

"Grab as much as you can carry, Joel. And remember I'll need some. I'm gonna go see if they have any medical supplies."

Joel and Antonia managed to break into the Military Station that was near the entrance to El Paso. It was easy when the whole city was deserted and no guards means a free-for-all on all military gear that was left behind.

"Amazing!" Antonia exclaimed. "There's enough medical supplies to last us for years! Oh I definitely know where I'm going to get my medical stuff when we get to Albuquerque."

Joel and Antonia managed to grab as much ammo and medical supplies to last them the rest of the trip to Albuquerque. By Antonia's calculations, they were only a half month's journey away from their final destination.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: This chapter was hard to write. The feels will be in the end, or at least I hope so :)**

**This is also the last chapter in this story, but Joel & Antonia will be coming back for more! I plan to cover the majority of Joel's 20 years in a span of multiple stories so stick around! **

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Chapter 8: The Warehouse

As they made their way out of El Paso, Joel noticed something off in the distance.

"Hey, Tonia. Look over there."

She looked. "What is that?"

"I don't know. But that's a huge building. What do ya think they did in that kind of building."

"I don't know." Antonia eyed Joel. "Wanna go look?" She asked with a smile.

"Hell yeah."

* * *

Antonia and Joel stood outside the old building. It was a warehouse that seemed abandoned even before the outbreak.

"Joel, I gotta bad feeling about this. Let's just go."

"No, no. I wanna check it out."

Joel starts to walk towards the building when Antonia grabs his arm.

"No. Please."

Joel looked at her. "Why not? Just cus you have a bad feeling doesn't mean you have to come with. I'll be out in like 10 minutes. Promise."

"Damnit Joel." Antonia let go of his arm and turned away from him.

Joel sighed. "What?"

Antonia stood with her arms crossed, not turning around look at him. Joel rolled his eyes and walked in front of her. Her head was down.

"Hey," He said softly. Joel gently rubbed her arm. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Antonia responded. Her voice was shaky and she kept her head down.

"Come on, Tonia. I've known you for six months. I kinda know there is something up. So what is it?"

She looked up. "I just don't want….." Her voice trailed off.

"Hey," Joel placed his hands on her shoulders. "Nothing's gonna happen in there. You've seen this town. It's deserted. Not a living soul anywhere. I'll just go in and check for some more supplies that we didn't find at the station. 10 minutes. Promise."

Antonia looked him in the eyes. "10 minutes. But, damnit Joel, first sign of trouble and you get your sorry ass outta there! I ain't gonna lose you when we're so damn close to the end."

"You have my word."

* * *

The building was dark. Joel couldn't see anything. Luckily he had some light thanks to the small flashlight he had. He just wished he had enough to last him the 10 minutes he promised Antonia.

"What was her deal anyway? She hasn't shown any sign of emotion like that before. Almost like she wanted to cry. But she hasn't done that since I knew her. And that's been six months." Joel stops in his tracks. "Damn." He looks at his watch. Still running and keeping track of time. "Sarah gave me this a year ago. Which means she's been gone a year already."

As Joel stood there he heard something that made his skin crawl.

"Shit."

* * *

Antonia paces outside.

"Where the hell is he? It's been nine minu…."

"Excuse me?"

Antonia turned around to see a black woman standing behind her. She was roughly Antonia's height. She was wearing a tank top and blue jeans and had a pendant with a symbol that Antonia immediately recognised.

"Oh my gosh! You're a…."

The woman put her hand up. "Yes. I'm a Firefly. I'm actually the one in charge. Name's Marlene. And you are?"

"Antonia. Antonia Rodriguez."

"Ah yes. I've heard about you. Your masters professor was our top advisor until he was killed last month. He talked about you a lot. His 'most promising student' I believe is what he used to described you."

"Really? Professor Pena? You worked with him?"

"Yes. Very smart man."

Antonia smiled. Knowing Professor Pena lived long enough to start working with the Fireflies. Now all she had to do was continue his work.

Suddenly the ground shook. Antonia looked towards the building when the side of the building exploded.

"No…" Antonia said under her breath. Her heart immediately sank. "JOEL!"

Antonia started running towards the explosion when she was grabbed from behind.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Antonia yelled. She kicked as she was pulled back away from the building. "LET ME GO DAMNIT! JOEL!"

"Antonia!" Marlene exclaimed. "It's not safe to run in there after an explosion like that. Who was inside."

Antonia was still being held, but she stopped kicking. She looked at Marleen.

"Joel. I've been traveling with him for a while….."

Marleen nods. "I understand." She looks at the man who was holding Antonia. "Nate, let's give her some privacy. I think she'll need it."

Nate let go of Antonia.

"Thank you…" Antonia weakly said.

"When you're ready, our camp is just a little ways off. You'll see the smoke from our fire once the sun starts to set."

Antonia nods. It's all she can do at the moment.

Once Marleen and Nate were out of eyesight, Antonia's legs gave out on her. She sat on her knees, leaning forward with her face on the ground. Suddenly she couldn't hold it in any longer. She felt a single tear run down her cheek. Before long, she was crying.

"DAMN YOU JOEL!" She exclaimed through her tears. She hit the dirt with her fist. "Damnit, Joel." She sat up. "You happy now?! You see what you made me do? You made me cry! And you wanna know why? I haven't had ANY human contact in months, and then you show up. You and your stupid face!" She sighed. "Why, Joel? Why couldn't you just listen to me this once? Now because you decided to go in there, you've left me alone." Antonia paused. She didn't know what she was saying, she just let her heart take over. "Why do I feel this way? I barely knew you six months ago and now, I feel like I've known you my entire life….. Is it weird I could imagine us starting over together? I know your last marriage didn't end well, but…. I mean you never know. Right?"

Antonia looked down. Her hands were in her lap. "Joel, I'm going with Marlene. If I meet Tommy, I'll tell him about you. I'm sure he would be proud of you and everything you've done. Joel…."

She paused. "Is it right to say that outloud?" She thought to herself. "Joel not around, so why am I hesitating? It's not like he'll hear me or anything."

She spoke once more. "I'll miss you."

Antonia stood up. It's not what she wanted to say, but it's what she needed to say. If she ever saw him again, she would tell him. In person. But for now, Joel was gone and Marlene was waiting for her at the Firefly camp.

"Goodbye."

_To Be Continued_


End file.
